SSN is a digest of the day's soccer/football/futbol articles with a focus on the top European leagues and the United States National Team. Below, you’ll find links to articles and video, as well as additional features and commentary. We locate the top news of the day so you can stay updated with ease.

Mid-week action in Serie A, yo! Paolo is the expert on that so let's allow him to bring us up to date on what's going on Italy. Hint: Napoli is not doing well. Wee review? OK. This includes everything you need.

We also dig Richard Jolly. He's looking toward Liverpool today, and wondering if things will be different for Brendan Rodgers. Roy Evans, Houllier, and Rafa all improved things at club...but none could win a title.

Hump Day? Already? Geez. So, the What's In Your Wallet? Cup provided some drama last night. Liverpool defeated Boro 14-13 on penalties! Andy Hunter was at Anfield. Elsewhere, Southampton won at Arsenal thanks to a rocket from Clyne, more woe for Tim Howard as Everton conceded three to Swansea, Sunderland beat Stoke (Jozy Altidore scored!!), and Fulham and Derby County both advanced. Check it:

There were matches yesterday in La Liga.Sid Lowe is in Spainnot talking about Real Madrid who continue to score goals for fun.

Fernando Torres. He scores when he...wants?

There were matches in Germany yesterday. Bayern put Poderborn away with ease, and Schalke were victorious. Here's a wee review.

There was one match in Serie A yesterday: Empoli 2 - 2 AC MilanSticking with Milan for a minute, they used to rule Europe and dominate with regularity. No more. What's gone wrong for the Italian giants?

If you're only going to see one game in a season you have to make sure it's the big one. And so it was last night: Carling Cup first round, Arsenal vs Southampton. And ideally you want to be there with all your mates. So off I went with my missus and our neighbour's 14 year son, Rory. Rory who loves rugby ''...but the ticket was free and I'll do anything to get away from my mad mother". My wife likes soccer more than Rory, especially going to Arsenal. Just before kick-off I asked her which was her favourite game. "I really enjoyed the stadium tour", she answered. In fairness this did tally with the earlier comment she'd made on the way to the game, " you know what the best thing about going to the football is? You get to look at the police horses..'

If you're not going to draw a top four team, then playing Southampton, with their open style of play and strong youth policy, is perhaps the next best thing. And the stadium was full. Ok, not Derby County full or Liverpool full, where all but 10 of the seats are taken, but Arsenal full. So there was at least a sprinkling of people around us. And that meant it wasn't too loud, which, lucky me, meant Rory could spend 30 minutes filling me in on the state England Rugby.

The Saints were excellent throughout, and Arsenal weren't that bad during an entertaining first half. But in the second half they were dire. All the real problems were in midfield. Quite a worry when the manager's buying policy [I need a stiker, a defensive mid and a centre back - I know I'll buy another attacking mid] leaves the team with no forwards and a defense of kids. Everything in the centre was numbingly slow. It was like watching a bunch of drugged-up crabs. Wilshere took 4 touches then passed sideways to Podolski, who took 4 touches and passed sideways to Rosicky, and so on and so on. Meanwhile, Schneiderlin was everything the Arsenal midfield wasn't: dynamic, energetic and effective.

At least in the first half there were a couple of cracking goals. Sanchez free-kick even had some fans lifting their heads from their Iphones. In the blurry photo below, taken by my wife, you can just about see the ball flying into the net.

Southampton will be delighted. Perhaps they should sell off the family jewels every year. They out-passed and out-smarted Arsenal. Arsenal didn't really seem to care. Wenger might be a tad disappointed to be out of the cup and that he may have bought another dodgy keeper but he's probably too busy thinking which Saints player he'll be buying in the summer.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

A very fine Tuesday to you and yours. We're going to jump right in with our favorite section of the week...Scribes! As you might expect, there's loads of great stuff this week on the heels of all the goals in Spain and the drama in Italy.

Podcast!On today's Football Weekly we've got own motley crew – Messrs Richardson, Macintosh, Steinberg and Ronay, since you asked – and they're talking goals, goals, goals, because there were a ton of them this weekend. Literally. We start with the shenanigans at the King Power Stadium, where Leicester spanked Manchester United 5-3, before contemplating Liverpool's continuing awfulness at West Ham, and Frank Lampard's non-celebration after rescuing a point for Manchester City against former love Chelsea. Plus, there's a bumper European round-up, including an 8-2 win for Real Madrid, an 83-metre screamer in the Bundesliga, and news from our friend Michiel Jongsma from benefoot.net about the strange goings-on at Alkmaar amid tales of Marco van Basten's poor health.
Tuesday also means Gabriele Marcotti's musings. This week, Gab is gabbing about Pellegrini, Mourinho 'spar' after draw; Real's misleading win; Milan's spirit.
Chelsea. They're a sketchy, club, right? Even if you support them, you have to admit it. Abromovich, right? Well, David Conn has got this going on today: Chelsea stake in third-party ownership leaves Premier League on shaky ground -- TPO has been banned in England since the Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano furore but not, it appears, at Chelsea.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Holy Insanity, Batman! What a weekend! You could not have written the script better for Super Frank Lampard as Chelsea's all-time leading goal scorer, on loan to Manchester City from New York City FC, comes on as a late sub and scores the tying goal to deny Chelsea a victory at the Etihad. Similarly, down 1-3 to Manchester United after 62 minutes, few would have predicted a Leicester City Comeback/Manchester United Meltdown that would result in a final score of 5-3 to the home side. Wow. Oh, and Real Madrid put eight past Deportivo de La Coruña, West Ham beat Liverpool, and Crystal Palace won at Everton. Let's get to the reports and analysis, beginning in England.

This is pretty great. A lot of German footy fans are not pleased that Red Bull's RB Leipzig was created simply to market the brand in 2009. Supporter input and influence are not encouraged, and the team operates more or less solely as a marketing wing of Red Bull. This weekend in Berlin, Leipzig were met with 15 minutes of silence from 20,000 Union Berlin fans.

The Guardian is taking a very close look at Jorge Mendes: From Diego Costa to Angel di María, the Portuguese super agent is responsible for the biggest deals in football but is also in apparent breach of Fifa regulations.